I have a Pico scope 3424 connected to a B&B electronics USB Isolated Four Port Hub, model UISOHUB4. My problem is that my USB hub always goes into suspend mode. It is not a problem with Picoscope 5.16.2 software but with 6.0.12 the problem is always present. I find the 6.0.12 software much more user friendly and better looking with a nice set of features.

Hi I discussed this with one of the software engineers and here is what he had to say

"Neither of the software versions have any communication whatsoever with the hub itself. They use the hardware in slightly different ways but nothing that should affect a hub directly.

My suggestion is to first try powering the hub with the power supply that it came with (if it did come with one) ... just in case the useage of the device in PicoScope 6 is somehow causing more current to be drawn (although I don't see how) and causing the hub to switch off (it's not clear what standby-mode means). If this is happening, it's possible that the hub is just not meeting the power requirements of the device. These are just guesses though, I have no way of knowing unless we had the hub right here. One thing I can tell you for absolute certain though, is that the software is not directly causing the problem. I personally use non-isolated hubs with our devices extensively and have never encountered this problem on either piece of software.

Thank you for your answer. I must admit it also goes into suspend mode with version 5.16.2 but not nearly as often as version 6.0.12 does. Lets leave it here for a while and i will try and contact B&B to see if they can help me. Btw, it is powered by an external power supply.

"I am guessing the suspend LED is on? The suspend LED on the UISOHUB4 will come on in Windows XP if no data is in the downstream portsâ€¦.the box goes into sleep mode.

A common cause of the suspend light coming on is if there was a surge on one of the ports. If this is what happened you can power cycle the device. Also I believe there is a way of refreshing the power in Windows Device Manager.

Power cycling the device may be inconvenient so alternatively you could purchase a USB surge suppressor.

Not 100% sure if this is applicable but I add it for completeness: in XP, Power Management can cause problems that cause the USB port to go to sleep. In Device Manager find and expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers. There will be a number of USB Root Hub entries. Go into Properties>Power Management. Uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

I did all that and i have tried the surge supressor. Nothing have helped me so far. The B&B thing is an USB1.1.

It only goes into suspend mode when Picoscope and B&B USB hub are working together and it happens app every 2-5 minnuttes, which makes it almost useless.
I have to use the B&B thing since i am working on non isolated line voltages.

Hmmm after discussing your problem with a couple of my colleagues, I realised there is a difference between PicoScope 5 and 6 in streaming mode, i.e. 200ms or slower for PicoScope 5 the device would do 1kS/s however in PicoScope 6 it goes much quicker! Now taking this into consideration it may be that the it is drawing more current.

What I would try to do in PicoScope 6 if you are in streaming mode (200 ms or slower ) is to reduce the number of samples for example say you choose 500ms choose 10kS or less.

I would also be interested in your settings, i.e. your time base, number of channels and number of samples.